


a trip in the circuit

by orphan_account



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: (not so) fun with time travel, Civil War Team Iron Man, Gen, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 12:35:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12606748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “Where are the others?,” he asks to himself. This version is older and more ragged. The lines on his face are more pronounced. He looks tired and worn. Jesus, he didn’t think he’d age this bad.Other him leans back against the wall of the helicarrier, hands in the pockets of his faded jeans. There’s something dangerous about the way he inclines his head towards the glass separating the two of them from everybody else on board. Not that it would matter, everybody is too distracted guarding Loki to notice what’s happening in here. He kind of hates how other him seems to think he owns the room.His counterpart shrugs nonchalantly and cuts his eyes back to them through the glass.“Alive somewhere. I hope.”(Or, Tony goes back in time to mid-chitauri invasion and warns himself about some things.)





	a trip in the circuit

“Where are the others?,” he asks to himself. This version is older and more ragged. The lines on his face are more pronounced. He looks tired and worn. Jesus, he didn’t think he’d age this bad.

Other him leans back against the wall of the helicarrier, hands in the pockets of his faded jeans. There’s something dangerous about the way he inclines his head towards the glass separating the two of them from everybody else on board. Not that it would matter, everybody is too distracted guarding Loki to notice what’s happening in here. He kind of hates how other him seems to think he owns the room.

His counterpart shrugs nonchalantly and cuts his eyes back to them through the glass.

“Alive somewhere. I hope.”

*  
This guy drops in from out of nowhere and won’t even explain how he solved time travel. He always knew he’d do it eventually but still, figures.

“Well,” he gestures, “What are you doing here then? This isn’t another lab fuck up?”

Hs other self smiles, sips his coffee, and taps on the side of his head with his finger.

“We. What are _we_ doing here.”

He doesn’t answer the question off the bat. Leave it to him to give somebody the run around. His best bet is trying to rile himself up. That’s normally what gets him to give up the ghost.

“Okay grandpa, when did we get so old?”

Other him snorts, and follows it with a light laugh.

“It was bound to happen eventually,” his other version says, and he narrows his eyes at himself to find the deception in his ease but quickly rules it out as a lost cause.

*  
Loki escapes, and other him doesn’t seem even a little surprised. That other him could’ve prevented this is a fact that weighs heavy. _Stop pretending to be a hero_ rings in his head more true with every passing minute.

Maybe he’s being childish. Sitting at the conference table with his chin in his hands, glaring at his other self with all the ferocity and disappointment that he used to look at his father with.

Steve Rogers sits next to him, looking between him and his other self, and then back to Agent Coulson’s bloody cards, as if he’s trying to decide which problem is more deserving of his focus. Finally, Rogers sighs and looks directly at his other self.

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

To his credit, other him doesn’t give the captain an inch. He just cocks his head towards..well, towards himself, who crosses his arms and waits back for an answer.

“Sometimes you gotta run-”

He cuts his other self off with a huff.

“-Before you can walk. Yeah. Got it.”

Other him grins likes he’s won the lottery, and fuck it, if getting something through his own head is that hard then he has.

In front of them, Fury braces one hand on the table and pinches the bridge of his nose with the other.

“Stark. We don’t have time for this.”

He’s not sure which one of himself the director is addressing, but he doesn’t get a response either way.

*

It doesn’t take him long to figure out that Loki is heading for the Tower to open the portal but before the team drops down, he corners his other self.

“Listen, Double Time, I gotta know- does this end well?”

Other him chokes on his coffee and looks...offended?

“There’s a future you standing right here and you can't take a guess?”

His counterpart rolls his eyes. Well, that’s a good enough answer for him. Time to go save the world.

*  
Seeing a version of him that survived doesn’t stop the fear from swallowing him when he flies through the wormhole. Multiple universes exist, and timelines change all the time. There’s a whole fleet waiting for him just past the stars and when he falls back to earth he still sees them behind his eyes. Something so much bigger is coming for them, has been planning it for longer than they could even know.

*  
When the dust has settled, he finds his other self waiting for him in an alleyway, past the rubble.

“What I saw up there,” other him closes his eyes and looks pained, “That’s why you’re here.”

Other him rubs a hand over his face.

“None of them believed us. Not a single one.”

The other him shakes his head. The anger in his voice is palpable.

“And now…”

Other him clenches his jaw and turns away.

“There are some things we need to go over.”

*  
They stand in a lower level of Stark Tower that didn’t take as much damage, and other him pulls out schematic after schematic, detailing their plan as he goes.

“It’s too late when I’m from but _you_ ,” other him points a finger in his face, “have just enough time to make this work.”

He nods as other him fills in the dots, already on the line with S.I. manufacturing companies to produce the necessary parts.

*  
“One last thing,” he says. Looking at his younger self, he’s grown enough to feel sympathy for all that he went through. The him of before is so unsure of himself, so glaringly in pain that he can’t help but want to smooth it over- but the best way to do that is to save himself from all the hurt that the future has to offer him.

He looks himself in the eyes because he wants himself to know that he means it.

“When they ask you to join, say no.” he says and then pulls his younger self in for a hug and offers no further explanations. It’s what he had needed in his own timeline, and it’s about time at least some version of him got it.

After that, he winks and salutes his younger self before fading out of time. It’s the outcome he had most anticipated before coming back here, and he’s come to terms with it. This him will do better.


End file.
